UTSA scrimmage, 04/04

Coming off perhaps its sloppiest outing since workouts began last fall, the UTSA offense made an immediate statement Monday morning at Farris Stadium, driving 70 yards in seven crisp plays for scrimmage-opening touchdown.

That series alone made for a substantial improvement from the previous scrimmage, in which the Roadrunners, beset by dropped passes, blown assignments and all manner of other sloppiness, found the end zone just once in 15 possessions.

“In a way, that’s actually good,” head coach Coker said. “One team dominates, and the other picks it up. What concerns you is when one group dominates throughout.”

The fact they added three more touchdowns, for a total of four in 10 drives, made for an impressive statement leading up to Saturday’s Spring Game at the Alamodome (which won’t actually be much more than a glorified scrimmage, but more on that later).

TD #2: Evans Okotcha on a 4-yard run, capping a seven-play, 63-yard drive. The offense did catch a huge break, literally, when Wilburn was credited for a 40-yard catch on third down after apparently dropping the ball.

TD #3: Brandon Armstrong on a 24-yard pass from Travis Menn, capping a nine-play, 70-yard drive. Armstrong did all the work after a great block at the line of scrimmage, taking Menn’s short dump-off and zipping around the edge. Probably the best individual effort of the day.

TD # 4: CheRod Simpson on a 10-yard pass from Soza, capping a 10-play, 52-yard drive. Simpson was buried by the rest of his offensive teammates after his over-the-shoulder catch.

I thought it might have been spontaneous excitement for a teammate after Simpson fumbled on the previous drive. But it was because head coach Larry Coker had decided that would be the last drive of the morning. Given a score-or-lose scenario, the Roadrunners came through on third and fourth down before Simpson’s celebration-inducing catch.

The defense actually played well from my vantage point. Only a few glaring breakdowns, pretty good tackling, got a pretty steady pass rush throughout. The offense just had a solid morning, notwithstanding a handful of errors.

Jones had six catches for 45 yards and his TD run. Soza was 12 for 19 for 176 yards and the game-winning TD to Simpson. Running back Chris Johnson had a limited impact in his first live action, carrying five times for 11 yards.

“We know how we can play, and last Monday, that’s not how we can play,” Soza said. “Today, we brought the punch. We were so much better than we were last week. It wasn’t great. We still had some mistakes. But it’s getting there.”

Moving on to Saturday’s Spring Game (2 p.m., Alamodome), Coker said it won’t be significantly different from the scrimmage format, with a predetermined number of plays and limited special teams. Not enough bodies to do much more than that, he said.

“Plus, we don’t want to do a lot of teaching on special teams because we’ve got a bunch of kids coming in this fall that will be part of that,” he said. “We’re going to have extra points, field goals. No kickoffs. We won’t return punts.”

* Coker said one of the biggest improvements he’s seen this spring is tackling. “We’re swarming to the ball much better,” Coker said. That was evident on at least one scramble by Soza where he gained limited yardage despite seeming to have an open field in front of him.

* Coker also praised Soza for a strong spring camp. “I think he’s going to be solid,” he said. “He can execute. He’s a guy who can run, has a good arm, has a good presence, the guys believe in him. He’s just what you like in a quarterback. He’s that leader this team needs.”

* One of the quieter players from last fall, defensive tackle Richard Burge, has had a solid showing in the two scrimmages. “He’s a guy who lost some weight coming out of high school and now he’s getting it back up,” Coker said. “I think he’s going to be a good player.”

* Despite Johnson’s limited impact in Monday’s scrimmage, Coker said the former East Central standout was impressive in his practice debut on Saturday. “He’s got a chance to be special,” Coker said.